18 Game-Changing Female Glass Artists

18. Sandblasted Black, Prism & Clear Glass Necklace by Foster & Malone. Featuring flameworked and sandblasted glass links, this necklace is by glass artist Charlene Foster, and metalsmith Regina Rose Malone, an incredible team based out of New York.

Source: Foster and Malone. All photos © their respective owners with permission granted for this blog post unless otherwise noted.

17. The Giving Tree by Mia Shea Glass.  Mia Shea first began glassmaking in 2011 at Zen Glass in St. Petersburg, Florida. Her work features figures with intense colors and movement.  The Giving Tree is her latest functional glass piece.

Source: Mia Shea Glass.

Source: Mia Shea Glass.

16. It’s Magic! by Vicki Schneider. Schneider’s current body of work, Childhood, expresses the innocence of youth and relives moments from her extraordinary life. She combines flameworking with fusing, reverse vitreous painting, metal work, and woodwork to create touching vignettes.

Source: Vicki Schneider.

15. Floral Pendant by Tomomi Handa.  Japanese artist Tomomi Handa began flameworking over 15 years ago, and has experience with both soft glass and borosilicate.  Specializing in borosilicate pendants and marbles, her style is recognized by intricate and sophisticated floral and lace patterns.  Available work is released through Jon Green, Contemporary Glass Art Dealer.

Source: Tomomi Handa / Jon Green.

14. Glass High Heel by Dellene Peralta. Dellene Peralta’s signature glass high heels bring limitless possibilities and are truly a breath of fresh air.  Peralta’s parents were both artists, and she began making glass pipes and jewelry in 1996.  Since then, she has won many prestigious industry awards and has created numerous breathtaking collabs with other incredible artists.

Source: Dellene Peralta.

13. Orange Maze Marble by Margaret Zinser. In 2001, Margaret Zinser began flameworking, meanwhile working as a lab scientist and preparing for a graduate degree in Entomology. After completing her Master’s in Entomology, she decided to pursue the limitless possibilities of glass full-time.  Merging her passions for intellect and art, each artwork from her Maze series contains a fully solvable maze.  Though her studio is based in Tucson, Arizona, her work has been displayed and she has taught both nationally and internationally.  A strong advocate of the arts, Zinser volunteers on the Board of Directors for two of Tucson’s non-profits, Sonoran Glass School and Beads of Courage.

Source: Margaret Zinser.

12. Black Line Sphere by Nao Saito.  A brilliant artist from Osaka, Japan, Nao Saito makes carefully networked borosilicate glass spheres with expertly planned patterns and color selection.  Available work is released through Jon Green, Contemporary Glass Art Dealer.

Source: Nao Saito / Jon Green.

11. Offerings #6 by Kathleen Elliot.  Kathleen Elliot’s Offerings series is inspired by the spiritual hand gestures of Buddha, known as mudras, and his teachings of gratitude and generosity.  Each piece features a hand with a glass botanical offering. This one features her husband Brent’s hand cast in glass, and Brent’s Kelp.

Source: Kathleen Elliot / Photo by Keay Edwards.

10. The Lion and the Fox by Amber Cowan. This intriguing artwork by Amber Cowan is made from flameworked milk glass, and the lion and the fox were pressed glass candy dishes from the Westmoreland Glass Company.  Cowan began working with glass over twelve years ago.  She holds a Master of Fine Art in Glass and Ceramics from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, and a Bachelor of Fine Art in 3D Design with a concentration in Glass from Salisbury University.  Cowan will be having a solo show “Chroma Revival” opening February 12th at Heller Gallery in New York City that will run through March.

Source: Amber Cowan / Photo by Matt Hollerbush.

Source: Amber Cowan / Photo by Matt Hollerbush.

9. The FireFly by LaceFace Glass. As a child, Lacey St. George grew up around glass artists who made glass pipes on one side of the family; on the other, religion and spirituality were deeply important components of day-to-day life.  Torn between the two, at the age of 21 she began making glass art, and spirituality and art collided in a profound way.  Many of the female figures in her artwork appear to be lifting up towards the heavens.  Ever since, she been regarded as one of the most innovative and recognized functional artists of all time.

Source: LaceFace Glass.

8. Chimpanzee by Joy Munshower. Joy Munshower specializes in lampworked glass beads and sculpture that are hyper-realistic and inspired by wildlife.  She also creates hand-cut-and-etched ceramic and stone tiles.  Munshower has a degree in Design with an emphasis in Ceramic Studio Practices from SJSU, and a graduate degree from CSU Fresno for Sculpture.

Source: Joy Munshower.

7. The Red Gazelle by Shelley Muzylowski Allen. Canadian-born artist Shelley Muzylowski Allen earned a Bachelor’s degree in Painting and Intaglio from the Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design. From 1998 through 2004, she worked as a glass-sculpting assistant with the prominent William Morris sculpture team in Washington.  In 2005, Shelley started a studio with her husband, artist Rik Allen. The masterly artistic duo have taught both nationally and internationally, including the Toyama Institute of Glass in Japan, International Glass Festival in Stourbridge, England, Penland School of Craft, Pittsburgh Glass Center, and Pilchuck Glass School.

Source: Shelley Muzylowski Allen / KP Studios photography.

6. Dental Model With Gold Teeth by Zii Glass. Kim Thomas, known as Zii Glass, has skyrocketed to one of the most original and inventive glass artists of our time, specializing in creating sculptural works of human form.  Zii has a background in ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design, and lived in Los Angeles where she had a long and fascinating career in special effects makeup.  In 2009, she began glassblowing, and it quickly became a well-suited passion for her to transition into a full-time career.  On February 6th, Zen Glass will be hosting one of the best solo shows of all time, Zii Glass, followed by her two-day class.

Source: Zii Glass.

5. Flight by Kait Rhoads.  Created in 2011 with glass, copper and steel, this incredible artwork has been featured at the Museum of Glass in Shanghai, China.  Rhoads is world-renowned for her Soft Sculpture series, hyper-realistic artwork inspired by the aquatic realm.  As a young girl, the artist spent six years on a boat in the Bahamas and Virgin Islands, the muse behind many of her remarkable creations.  To make these unique sculptures, Rhoads uses cross sections of hollow blown glass hexagonal tubing “hollow murrine,” linked together with copper wire.

Source: Kait Rhoads / Robert Vinnedge Photography.

 

4. Synergy Series I by Cathryn Shilling.  Globally acclaimed artist Cathryn Shilling is widely recognized for her “woven” kiln-formed sculptural glass art.  She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from Central School of Art and Design in London.  She worked as a Graphic Designer until relocating to the United States with her family in 2001, where she studied stained glass in Connecticut.  In 2004, she returned to London and began studying and working with kiln-formed glass, and became a glassblowing student at Peter Layton’s London Glassblowing.

Source: Cathryn Shilling / London Glassblowing / Photo by Ester Segarra.

Source: Cathryn Shilling / London Glassblowing / Photo by Ester Segarra.

 

3. Bernie by Sara Sally LaGrand. Sara Sally LaGrand is an award-winning sculptural glass artist and bead maker, who began bead-making in 1996. She has studied glass with many accomplished teachers in both America and Italy, and also holds a BA in Glass Formation from Park University.

Source: Sara Sally LaGrand.

2. Knit Knot by Carol Milne. This jaw-dropping piece by Carol Milne highlights her pioneering knitting-with-glass style, was featured on TIME.com, and sold to Asheville Art Museum, in Asheville, NC for their permanent collection!  Milne began working as a sculptor in 1988, and has been working primarily in glass since 2000.  With kiln-cast lead crystal knitted glass, she’s made everything from shoes, socks, gloves, bowls, baskets and more.

Source: Carol Milne.

1. Reef’s End II by Shayna Leib.  Part of her remarkably detailed and labor-intensive Wind & Water series, Leib considers two of the world’s most powerful elements and their affect on the sculptural landscape.  Previously from San Luis Obispo, California, Lieb holds a Bachelor’s in philosophy, with minors in glass and literature from California Polytechnic University.  She also holds a Masters in Fine Arts in glass and metal from University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she currently resides.

Source: Shayna Leib / Tadsen Photography.

Source: Shayna Leib / Tadsen Photography.